Giants Trade For Hunter Pence

Hunter Pence is reportedly on the Giants. The trade is reportedly done. Reportedly. According to a report. One of our favorite players to pick on, one of the most amusing players in baseball, is now reportedly on the Giants. This will be entertaining, at least. Are you not reportedly entertained?

Edit: Done deal. Pence and cash for Tommy Joseph, Nate Schierholtz, and Seth Rosin.

Tommy Joseph, he of the light-tower power, is going the other way. In a perfect world, Joseph would stick around. A thin farm system just got thinner. It's not a lopsided trade by any means. Pence really isn't as good as some people think, but he has value. He's even around for next year, albeit at market prices. Still, that gives the Giants some leverage in the Melky extension talks. They don't have to panic and sign him for seven years, or some such.

The analysis will follow. For now, know there's a storm cloud brewing. There are going to be people with lobster hats cheering for Pence. They'll pick up on the fact that Pence is vaguely creepy, vaguely invertebratey, and they will attempt to get on camera the entire time they're at a game.

But there will also be people wearing underwear on their heads. They'll have signs, "HUNTER PENCE'S UNDER PANTSES!" And they'll attempt to get on camera the entire time they're at a game.

Slowly, like clouds of gas moving across the vacuum of space, these two groups will meet. It will be a bloodbath. There will be carnage. And Hunter Pence will laugh and laugh and laugh …

Knee-jerk reaction: The Giants got better. Not by as much as you might think, but they got better. We'll see if that makes a difference over the next two months, and we'll worry about Tommy Joseph in a few years.

Additional knee-jerk reaction: It's nice to see the Giants stretch the budget a little. Really, they weren't being cheap. A $130 million payroll is something of a monster, even if a lot of it is spent on nonsense. But with the sellouts and the television money … it just didn't look good to pretend the budget was inflexible.